Okay, we all know that the Chicago Fire was awarded the Supporters Shield a week or two ago. I'm sure someone else has thought of this, but I didn't find a thread on it. (Mods, please merge if I've missed it.) But here is my question: Before yesterday, the last Saturday in the MLS regular season schedule, it was mathematically possible for the Earthquakes to finish even on points with the Fire, that is, if the Quakes had won against LA last night and if Chicago loses against Columbus today. Soooo... why were they crowned with the Supporters Shield so early? Is there something about the awarding of the Supporters Shield I'm not aware of? Someone in the know please explain.
The tie breaker is head to head record, same as the league. Chicago holds the better head to head record this year so they win any tie-breaker with San Jose.
Thanks voros. Me ---> duh. I guess I could have figured that out on my own, but I couldn't find any mention of it anywhere. For my own amusement, does anyone know where this is spelled out on the MLSnet site?
I doubt it's spelled out on the MLS site at all. The Supporters Shield was started outside of the league so they don't really have any bearing on it and don't track it in their tables. You can find the rules for tie-breakers on MLSnet but you'd need to know in advance that the Suporters Shield follows the same conventions.